A Good Day To Be Home
by x.xOracles.Shadowx.x
Summary: AndrAIa and Matrix encounter an old enemy in a game they remember all too well. - Oneshot! AndrAIa/Matrix! And an appearance of Bob, Dot, Mouse, Ray, Phong, and of course Frisket.


**A Good Day To Be Home  
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it. I'm just a 90's kid who loved Reboot, and loves Fanfiction, so please don't sue. **

Since the loss of his eye, Matrix never showed fear. Mistrust, anger, fury, confusion, sure. But fear was an element that didn't exist to the canvas that was his face. To everyone they met, they saw a surly, unpleasant sprite with a bad attitude and a gun to match, traveling and living with who they saw as a gorgeous game sprite. They never saw fear; the uncertainty that Matrix fought to hide. AndrAIa was the only one who knew him well enough to read it. Over all their travels, AndrAIa had only seen fear on his face when her code had been taken by the web creature, and the first time he'd kissed her.

When the game cube lowered into Mainframe and she and Matrix flew to meet it, she hadn't expected the familiar stone platform to greet her. She hadn't expected being separated from Matrix by a stained glass wall. And she hadn't expected the fear that came crashing down upon her when she saw the familiar warrior garb Matrix rebooted in to, or her own multiple arms.

She knew this place. It was that game. The game she and Enzo never talked about. The one that was responsible for taking their innocence after Bob was shot into the Net. That was the third time since the loss of his eye that AndrAIa could remember seeing fear on Matrix's face as he stared down the same fire winged angel that had taken his eye so many minutes before.

The renegade sprite just deflated. AndrAIa could see it as he took a shot to the stomach that took his first life. Matrix wasn't there fighting anymore; it was Enzo again, the young sprite trying to fight a battle that he wasn't strong enough for. She screamed at him from behind the glass, pounding on it as Frisket barked beside her. He couldn't hear her; he just kept staring at the user with enough terror in his eyes to make most of the people he'd fought and beat before run for cover. Having to fight whatever could terrify the brazen sprite that was known throughout the Net as Matrix would have been considered a fate worse than deletion to most.

To AndrAIa, it was just another piece of her heart being torn out. She'd never forgotten that nano, and knew from the screams in his sleep that Matrix hadn't either. After that game, Enzo had been so torn up over his injury and that he'd managed to do what Bob had never done; lost a game, failed Mainframe. She knew he had dreams of Megabyte telling him that he would never be as good a guardian as Bob had been, she could tell by the tears and the thrashing.

She'd tried to comfort him, but he wouldn't hear it. After what felt like days of him being a recluse, AndrAIa decided to channel a little bit of Dot. If Enzo wasn't snapping out of it himself, she'd have to force him to wake up, and no one was better at that than Enzo's sister. AndrAIa marched into his room and raged at him, pleaded with him, and in the end wound up sitting on the bed next to him, her head on his shoulder and crying, begging him to wake up otherwise, how would they ever get home? If they didn't stick together, how could they survive? How could she survive knowing her best friend was dead inside?

He'd turned to her, half of his young face covered by bandaging that she'd just changed, and instead of the cold, uncaring blankness she'd seen before, she saw the sorrow and the sadness that meant that, for good or bad, she had gotten through to him. He put an arm around her and hugged her, the two of them crying and not judging. They were children, forced into a war of adults, and their world had just gone haywire. They were allowed to cry.

When the tears ran dry and AndrAIa had her head laying on Enzo's shoulder, she heard the guardian let out a raspy breath and apologize to her for failing her. He said he should have fought harder, been stronger, not allowed her to get dragged into this. Only a glare was needed to get him to be quiet; they both knew he was blaming himself for things beyond his control. He was just a kid, and no one was to blame for what had happened. Their new and only concern was how they were going to survive and get back to Mainframe.

After that, Enzo began to become Matrix before her very eyes. On his next update, he got the golden eye which took a bit of getting used to. On her's, she got shoulder length hair and the trident. By the time they'd become adults, Enzo would only answer to Matrix, only AndrAIa could call him Enzo, and the two were inseparable. He could sleep through the night again as long as she was beside him, twisted into him to the point where sometimes, neither could tell where they ended and the other began.

When they returned to Mainframe, everything was happening so quickly and Bob was back, and Daemon was coming, and Bob and Dot were getting married, and Megabyte reappeared, and Hexadecimal was good then went viral again. Everything went so wrong, so quickly. In the aftermath of Daemon and Megabyte, there was so much rebuilding that Matrix didn't have time to think about everything he'd lost or how much he'd changed. He was busy with helping Dot learn to trust Bob again and helping her rebuild Mainframe, and everything was good. Everything seemed like it was finally, _finally_, coming together again, after so long.

And then this. The one game AndrAIa had spent every night since they were first trapped praying to whatever User would hear it that she never saw again.

She watched the battle, wishing that she couldn't predict each move as it was struck. As he shook himself off from the first kill, AndrAIa could have cheered as she saw the glare Matrix was famous for line Enzo's face. He was back. Still shaken, but back in the driver's seat. He charged.

If there was one thing Enzo was good at, which if you asked AndrAIa, there were many of them, it was hand to hand combat. The User didn't know what hit it until it fell to the floor, losing it's first life. AndrAIa sucked in a breath as she watched Matrix watch the User. This was it. The young game sprite in her was screaming for this to end differently than the last match had. Matrix was stronger, he could do it.

The User stood, rolling it's shoulders as the wings flared to new life on it's back. Matrix visibly tensed, and AndrAIa screamed at him, "Kick his code, Sparky!", even though she knew he couldn't hear her. Matrix took the first shot, kicking it in the chest and sending it back two steps. It felt like a hush had fallen over the game; AndrAIa couldn't hear anything outside of her own blood pounding in her ears.

The User swung it's weapon at Matrix, hitting him on the side of the face and sending him staggering backwards. Matrix regained his footing, peeling off the face covering and noticing that he had a new scar alongside the old one. His good eye opened and the golden one glowed and AndrAIa knew it was over. Compared to Megabyte, this demon was nothing Matrix couldn't handle. That User was done.

"Let's dance, ugly.", Matrix growled at the User, then turned to the glass AndrAIa was trapped behind. He put his foot through it, allowing her to break the rest of the glass. She and Frisket jumped out of the holding, and AndrAIa fell into a battle stance beside Matrix. "I've waited a long time to run into this game again."

"And I've spent just as long hoping we didn't. Together?", AndrAIa replied, smiling slightly as the winged angel watched the two of them. This game just became a team battle. Matrix nodded, and the two rushed at him. The User let out a scream as Matrix's foot slammed into it's chest while AndrAIa tripped him, sending it over the edge of the platform. It gripped the ledge, trying to fight to pull itself up, and AndrAIa watched as gravity pulled it down and into the lava.

As the game dissolved around them, the three sprites let out a collective breath of relief. The words, 'Game over', had never sounded so much like music to AndrAIa's ears. As Mainframe appeared around them and Dot and Bob rushed to meet them, Matrix collapsed to the ground.

"Enzo!", Dot called in worry, running to his side. AndrAIa kneeled next to him, and put a hand on his shoulder. He had his face buried in his arm as he sat on the ground, and his shoulders were shaking. She'd been expecting this. He'd broken down worse than this after his fight with Megabyte. He'd gone for so long feeding off of the anger and hate for losing Bob, who'd been family, and then losing his eye that when he'd finally had his vengeance against Megabyte, he ran out of steam, and that had put him into a panic.

AndrAIa put her arms around his shoulder and hugged him from behind, burying her face into his shoulder like she had when they'd first been trapped in the game. "Sparky, we made it. We're home safe.", AndrAIa assured him gently as Dot, Bob, Mouse and Ray hovered near by. "We beat him."

Matrix didn't make a reply, but smiled at her and for a moment, they weren't the renegades they'd grown into. They were two kids who'd lived to fight another day. He'd be embarrassed for crying in front of his sister and Bob later.

"Come on, you two. Let's go home.", Bob told them quietly, offering a hand to Matrix as AndrAIa stood next to him. Matrix took the hand and stood, shaking himself off, then without another word, pulled Dot into a strong hug.

"I don't know if I ever said this before but, I missed you, sis.", he mumbled to her, hugging her. Dot's eyes filled with tears and she hugged him back tightly. Mouse muttered something about how they needed to stop being so sappy or she was going to start crying, but the hacker had a smile on her face as she stood next to Ray, their hands intertwined.

"I missed you too, and I'm so proud of you. Welcome home, little brother.", Dot replied, crying into his shirt. The two siblings stepped out of the hug, and Matrix's arm automatically went around AndrAIa as the group walked back to where the hoverboards were parked.

"Hey Sparky, race you back to the Principal Office!", AndrAIa called, zooming above the renegade. Matrix grinned at her as he jumped on his board and chased after her, leaving Bob, Dot, Mouse, Ray and Frisket shaking their heads and smiling as they followed. As AndrAIa laughed, evading Matrix, she thought that, for all the ups and down, it had been a good day. The game had been won, everyone was together again, and the city still stood. She landed at the Principal Office, and Matrix tackled her to the ground, making her let out a shriek of laughter. She held onto him tightly as the two stood, Matrix waving to Phong as he stood outside the Office. It was a good day to be home.

**AN: Yes, this is a Reboot fanfiction. Oh yes, I went there. I'm a 90's kid, and I LOVED Reboot. I remember getting up early to watch the reruns and begging my mom to let me stay up late and watch the new episodes. I was so sad when the Matrix arc ended because I adored Bob, and I was so scared for Enzo and AndrAIa, though I saw their pairing coming a mile away. This story is just my idea of how Matrix and AndrAIa are strongest when they're together. They travelled and lived together for so long; they'd know each other better than anyone else ever could. And I really can't believe they'd never encounter the game that trapped them again, so I figured, 'Why not write one where they fight it together as a team?' Hopefully, it's not too bad. I apologize for any factual errors, I had to rely on Youtube and Wikipedia for the finer details of the episode. And I know that the whole 'AndrAIa being broken out and helping him finish the User' probably couldn't have happened, but it seemed like a good way to emphasize that they're strongest when they're together. **

**Have a good Tuesday, everyone!  
Much love,  
Oracle. (L) (L) **


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